Case Study - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was an American Pop star that was globally known for his contributions in popular culture by dancing and singing. He began singing in a group called "Jackson 5" with his brothers and the purpose was to spread music. It was later on when he began to establish himself and start his solo career.

"Rock with You" was the first song he sang as an individual. The song was released in 1979 and it was all about him. There were many close up and shots of him dancing with his shiny costume. The video was almost a message to the world that he was doing his own thing and he was unique. In Michael Jackson's early days he was always more focused on the music and the way he sung. You can see that he is truly enjoying his music as he dances to the song. 


After "Billie Jean" which was released in 1982 he became more focused on story telling. In this video it showed how he was bringing everything to life. It was the first interesting pop video around his time and he was breathing life into it. The following year he released another music video called "Beat It". This song was focused on the story and was the beginning of the alias white socks. The choreography in the video was very elaborate at the end of the video. Also a lot of Jackson's dancing was made up on the spot. He had a talent and he fan base was growing all over the world.

In 1983 he put out undoubtedly one of the most famous music videos of all time called "Thriller". This video cost around $500,000 to make and lasted as long as a mini-film. It had to be edited down because it was too long. Even when MTV aired the video it lasted just under five minutes with one minute of narrative. The long version was just too long and lasted a remarkable fourteen minutes. The video was so imaginative and creative that it won Best Performance Video, Best Choreography and Viewers Choice at the first MTV Music Awards in 1984. The tape became the best selling and was able to sell 9 million units. Tapes were in high demand and the video was released a few weeks before Christmas so the video were able to make a staggering amount of sales. There were also behind the scenes VHS' which included a little documentary of how the video was produced and had some exclusive behind the scenes footage.